It seems that Vitali Klitschko is the first in the city after God
The law prevents him from being removed from office, as Vitali Volodymyrovych is the head of the Kyiv City State Administration and also serves as the mayor. In other words, he leads the executive power and represents the community that elected him.
5 Are the residents of the capital satisfied with their main manager? An authoritarian management model has taken root in Kyiv, hindering the successful development of the metropolis. Kyivans are deprived of the opportunity to be heard by the city's leaders.
This was discussed during a debate at "Ukrinform": "A new management model for Kyiv: advantages and challenges." Experts argued for the necessity of adopting a new law on the capital, delineating and establishing management processes, as well as the importance of creating district councils in the city.
6 Radical changes in Kyiv have long been overdue. Total opacity in decision-making prevails, and corruption and irresponsibility have become the norm, according to Kyiv City Council deputy, head of the permanent commission on budget, socio-economic development, and investment activities Andriy Vitrenko.
There are many examples of this. For instance, the mayor of Kyiv personally does not respond to citizens' appeals, does not meet with people, having delegated this function to his deputies; he appoints and dismisses staff according to his principles, has no accountability to the community, and does not hold public receptions.
The style of authoritarianism in the city is multifaceted
For example, in January 2016, Head of the Kyiv City State Administration Vitali Klitschko appointed Hennadiy Plis as his first deputy without consulting then-Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, although he was obligated to do so.
7 “If the second person in the structural hierarchy of Kyiv is appointed with a blatant violation of the law and it goes unpunished, then where can I, as a lawyer, find legal mechanisms to protect an ordinary person from unlawful encroachments?” rhetorically asks lawyer Dmytro Kalko, adding that this glaring case demonstrates a breakdown in the interaction mechanism between state power and local self-government. In this case, the Administrative Code is nullified, resulting in chaos.
Dmytro Kalko pointed out such a Euro-integration document as the Law "On Administrative Procedure" (which came into effect on December 15, 2023). This code regulates the relationships between executive authorities, local self-government, their officials, and citizens, and legal entities to ensure rights and laws. It outlines specific "scenarios" and models of state behavior when addressing citizens' issues. The law deals a serious blow to manifestations of corruption, as it prohibits officials from providing formal replies to complaints regarding the actions of civil servants without involving the affected parties and without proper explanations from officials. Kalko asserts that since December 15, 2023, there have been no instances of this law being applied in Kyiv. Here’s a vivid example of the stagnation of legal mechanisms.
8 However, the older Law "On Citizens' Appeals" is still poorly implemented in the capital. Officials have forgotten about personal receptions, justifying their inaction with the danger of the coronavirus and martial law. It is worth recalling that the COVID-19 pandemic began in Ukraine back in 2020.
According to lawyer Dmytro Kalko, “officials have forgotten what a person looks like.” Meanwhile, according to the Law "On Local Self-Government in Ukraine," the mayor is responsible for “ensuring the exercise of powers of executive authorities within the territory provided by law, adhering to the Constitution and laws.” And there is a significant problem with this as well.
Public receptions? Forget it!
Let’s consider the issue of personal receptions. On the Kyiv City Council’s website, it states that the mayor holds citizen receptions once a month. It turns out that getting a conversation with the mayor is not so simple. You will only be allowed to meet the top official after your issue has not been resolved by the first deputy head of the Kyiv City State Administration or other top city officials. Moreover, registration for an audience and sending an invitation is only done by personal order from Klitschko.
Forget about being able to register for an appointment with Klitschko by phone. The Kyiv City Council website has a schedule indicating when Vitali Volodymyrovych is available for citizen receptions. It states that the mayor will be available… on August 2, 2024. Today is November. Thus, there were no meetings with Kyivans in September and October. It is evident that this month will be no different.
9 Does our mayor even have time to communicate with ordinary people? In 2023, Head of the Kyiv City State Administration Vitali Klitschko traveled on business trips every month, except for October and December. In total, he spent 64 days abroad, which accounts for more than two months of absence from his workplace.
Here is how residents respond on social media to the mayor's style of activity.
Iryna Tatyanych writes:
“Earlier, it was possible to contact Klitschko on his Facebook page. Today this option has been removed. He doesn’t need us with our problems. Do you think anyone reads the comments that people write on the mayor's Facebook page? Apart from us, who have pressing issues, no one reads them! Our building (Harmattna Street, 21) constantly suffers from the heating not being turned on on time. Where do residents not reach out? There is no response whatsoever.”
Angry complaints from cold apartments
The start of the current heating season has prompted thousands of appeals from Kyivans to the city authorities. To whom among the complainants did Vitali Klitschko personally visit, inspecting cold apartments and houses, say, in the Lisovyi Massif, and publicly admonish his subordinates for poor work? Such facts have not been reported by the information resources of the Kyiv City State Administration.
Kyiv resident Larysa Tymoshenko is banging the drum regarding the disgraceful situation in the building at Akademika Bulakhovskogo Street, 30-32:
“There is no heat. There has been no hot water for six months! The authorities do not respond to phone calls to “15 – 51.” Nobody is doing anything. All we see outside is an excavated pit with pipes and wires. Shame! Where to go? Who to turn to? In the apartments, it’s ‘cold and damp’.”
0 A typical picture is also reported by Anastasiya Listopadova:
“I am addressing Vitali Klitschko directly. There is still no heating at 87-a Vatslava Havel Boulevard. Allegedly, there was some kind of accident. We reached out to the Kyiv City State Administration… But no one seems to be doing anything. A pit has been dug near the house, and that’s it. We’ve seen something similar near Mykhailo Dontsya Street, 18. This is our readiness for the heating season! Elderly people are freezing in their own homes. Let’s ask Vitali Volodymyrovych why the Kyivans were informed that all houses were ready for the heating season? And now we’ve been waiting for a month, and there is still no heating. Not only our house is suffering. Moreover, the walls in my apartment are already blooming, and water is dripping from the ceiling and walls. And in the neighbors’ room, the floor has ‘lifted’… A capital nightmare! Who will compensate for the damages?”
Valentyna Misha also has an angry question for the authorities:
“Mr. Vitali! The residents of the building at Natalia Uzhviy Street, 4-a are freezing! There are children here! Respect to the manager who writes the appeal, but at +15°C, it is impossible to stay here. The ‘hot’ hotline of the Kyiv City State Administration disconnects, but complaints are not accepted! Where are you, Vitali Klitschko?”
The mayor is where unpleasant questions are not publicly asked, where it is easy and casual to inspect a new facility (park, square, road junction, etc.), declaring how the government cares about the well-being of Kyivans.
And cold apartments? That’s for Deputy Head of the Kyiv City State Administration Petro Panteleyev.
Let’s share another post on Facebook from an angry Kyiv resident:
“On October 30, heating of residential buildings began in Kyiv. The next day, Vitali